The invention relates to a transportable device for the cutting of plates of soft material with the aid of a cutting member and a base plate with lateral guides, in which a press-on cutting rule is movable up and down guided parallel to the edge of the base plate. If the plate to be cut is a synthetic material foam plate, a cutting member comprising an electrically heated wire is used. If the plate is, for example, of glass wool, it can be cut with the aid of a knife guided along the press-on cutting rule.
Similar devices are known. They are used mostly in building construction. For this reason the device is constructed transportably and the energy for the heating of the cutting wire is drawn mostly from a battery. After cutting, it may be forgotten to turn off the current. This has the disadvantages of unnecessary discharging through the battery and the danger that someone will be burned on the hot wire. Through carelessness there can even arise a fire if an easily combustible object comes in contact with the hot wire.
The invention sets for itself solving the problem of obviating these disadvantages, such as arise in a cutting operation with a heated wire.